Commando Selection and Training
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Hey
I am going for ns in a couple of years and i was wondering what the selection process is to be a commando.
Also what is the training schedule of a commando and where do people drop out?
Please be as detailed as possible.
Thanks you!
2010
PS: can you add the year you were doing the training. -
pls be informed that their training programme is classified to the general public. the declassified info r in the www.mindef.gov.sg .
u just wait for ur cmpb medical screening when u r due for enlistment age, there u inform the counter officer that u r volunteer/interested to go for the selection test for commando/ndu diver.
after the checkup,
unless u r the selected few who receive the special letter asking u to go for a pre-selection physical/mental ability test in pasir ris, or else no way to be one. -
so i tel them i am interested and if they are interested in me they will send me a letter?
What are the things that can have you cut from being a commando, like eye sight, and what else.
Thank you -
Its a matter of luck really. You can wear specs, you can be unfit as long as you PES A or B.
Anyway, still long for you. Don't worry abt it. -
eh really can request to the counter officer to tt u r interested to be CDO or NDU diver meh?
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dun be commando lah.... so siong u noe... have to always go outfield n put camo on face all the time....
aim for a slacker vocation -
no.Originally posted by charleslee:eh really can request to the counter officer to tt u r interested to be CDO or NDU diver meh? -
my classmate got it this way... and some of my bmt mates requested for early enlistment into the june batch bmt after poly graduation. if not, they had to wait till september batch.Originally posted by mhcampboy:no. -
my friend crashed the CDO selection.
My advice is just keep medically fit, dont get serious injuries. Eyesight below 200 degrees for NDU, above that usually CDO but of course there are many exceptions. and Pes A for high chance of being shortlisted. You can call CMPB when its the time for you to enlist to request being shortlisted for mono-intakes. Accept or not is a different story altogether. -
Pes A.
Tell them you 2.4KM timing less than 8 minutes, and you walked the last round.
Tell them you got perfect eyesight.
Tell them you dun smoke.
Tell them you want to be ranger or recon force or special force, etc...
Tell them you dun have girlfriend...
I am sure they will select you for CDO... -
Originally posted by Cro-Magnon:Tell them you 2.4KM timing less than 8 minutes, and you walked the last round.
What if they channel that poor chap straight to SOF, how? -
just reading up on armour, but which is more tough?
Armour or CDO training? -
If I say driver is tough, some ppl will disagree. If I say RP tough, some ppl will disagree. If I say signallers is tough, some people will disagree. If I say clerical work is tough, some people will disagree. If I say infantry is tough, some people will disagree....Originally posted by 2010:just reading up on armour, but which is more tough?
Armour or CDO training?
How like that? ALL BECOME GENERAL LA!!!
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being a campy is tough....Originally posted by mhcampboy:If I say driver is tough, some ppl will disagree. If I say RP tough, some ppl will disagree. If I say signallers is tough, some people will disagree. If I say clerical work is tough, some people will disagree. If I say infantry is tough, some people will disagree....
How like that? ALL BECOME GENERAL LA!!!
being me is tough too....
damn.
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For the gazillion and umpteenth time, CDO picks whoever they want to. Yes, there are a few prerequisites like PES status, but the rest of the time it's pretty much a lassiez faire process. Only son, girlfriend, prefer the colour blue, that's just all old wives' tales.
I was there from 1990 to 1993, and I got my letter in mid-1990. I decided I didn't want in, so I thought I'd give them a bad attitude and they'd go pick someone more gung-ho.
So I ended up reporting for the tests, at the end of which I was interviewed by a sargeant. He asked me if I wanted to go to Commandos, and I asked if I had a choice. He said no, and I said, "So what the f*ck are you asking me for?".
I found out over the next two and a half years that that was precisely the mentality they were looking for. Who was to know? -
Ged, are you saying they are looking for people who don't want to go?
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u r selected bcos u hv the guts to f a sergeantOriginally posted by Gedanken:For the gazillion and umpteenth time, CDO picks whoever they want to. Yes, there are a few prerequisites like PES status, but the rest of the time it's pretty much a lassiez faire process. Only son, girlfriend, prefer the colour blue, that's just all old wives' tales.
I was there from 1990 to 1993, and I got my letter in mid-1990. I decided I didn't want in, so I thought I'd give them a bad attitude and they'd go pick someone more gung-ho.
So I ended up reporting for the tests, at the end of which I was interviewed by a sargeant. He asked me if I wanted to go to Commandos, and I asked if I had a choice. He said no, and I said, "So what the f*ck are you asking me for?".
I found out over the next two and a half years that that was precisely the mentality they were looking for. Who was to know? -
Hahhaa, i got add onOriginally posted by Cro-Magnon:Pes A.
Tell them you 2.4KM timing less than 8 minutes, and you walked the last round.
Tell them you got perfect eyesight.
Tell them you dun smoke.
Tell them you want to be ranger or recon force or special force, etc...
Tell them you dun have girlfriend...
I am sure they will select you for CDO...
Tell them you don't mind eating cockroaches
Can go hungry for min 3 days
Tell them you can breath under water
Killing snakes are your family biz
Bungee jumping are for pussies
you tattoo singapore flag on your body
You do only 12 x chin up, upside down
Normally you run pass rollerblader
you avoid TP while running to avoid misunderstand
I am pretty sure they will get u in the troop but these are the kinds of things you will be sharing after that.
Okay i am kidding... -
No, that's not it.Originally posted by 2010:Ged, are you saying they are looking for people who don't want to go?
What it is instead is a no-nonsense philosophy - throughout my service, one of the most commonly used phrases (first instituted by my CSM) was, "Can means can lah - wayang so much for what?". In typical light-infantry style, anything that isn't worth its weight is discarded, and this approach extends to practices as well as equipment.
In my case, the sergeant asked a question that he and I both know was useless. By pointing it out, I inadvertently displayed the "no wayang" attitude. On top of that, Commando culture is irreverent if not rebellious - by asking the question in the manner that I did, I showed the sergeant that I'd fit right into the culture.
When you get down to brass tacks, the whole Commando thing is much more a matter of the mind than of physical fitness. As Captain Roger Courtney said to one of the pioneer batches of the Special Boat Squadron in 1942, "You think you're tough? If so, get out - I want f*ckers with brains". -
One of my BMT sergeants like to say to use recruits, "wah lao, you all so gu niang, wait commandos come and chop you all into bundung."
I kept wondering why commandos want to chop people into bundung... -
\Originally posted by Gedanken:For the gazillion and umpteenth time, CDO picks whoever they want to. Yes, there are a few prerequisites like PES status, but the rest of the time it's pretty much a lassiez faire process. Only son, girlfriend, prefer the colour blue, that's just all old wives' tales.
I was there from 1990 to 1993, and I got my letter in mid-1990. I decided I didn't want in, so I thought I'd give them a bad attitude and they'd go pick someone more gung-ho.
So I ended up reporting for the tests, at the end of which I was interviewed by a sargeant. He asked me if I wanted to go to Commandos, and I asked if I had a choice. He said no, and I said, "So what the f*ck are you asking me for?".
I found out over the next two and a half years that that was precisely the mentality they were looking for. Who was to know?
THIS IS THE THING i AM MOST WORRIED ABOUT FOR THE SAF
There is no clear selection.
In other countries, the best of the best get selected... and slowly weed out those which cannot make it. The result is the cream of the crop.
But in Singapore, you just take a bunch of people, train them, and call them "elite". Yes, sure, they are better than normal infantry because of the training. But some in the infantry, if they get the same training the CDOs have, will be even better!
Our CDOs really cannot be considered "Special Forces"... I tend to think more of them as elite infantry thats all.
And in war time, will out SOF and SWG have enough people to carry out the necessary tasks? -
Do you know what you're on about, Chan?Originally posted by chanjyj:THIS IS THE THING i AM MOST WORRIED ABOUT FOR THE SAF
There is no clear selection.
In other countries, the best of the best get selected... and slowly weed out those which cannot make it. The result is the cream of the crop.
But in Singapore, you just take a bunch of people, train them, and call them "elite". Yes, sure, they are better than normal infantry because of the training. But some in the infantry, if they get the same training the CDOs have, will be even better!
Our CDOs really cannot be considered "Special Forces"... I tend to think more of them as elite infantry thats all.
And in war time, will out SOF and SWG have enough people to carry out the necessary tasks?
First, you have a conscript army. By that measure alone the SAF cannot afford to do what all-regular armies do, i.e. avoid direct intakes into their paratrooper units. Have you seen the conscript model do Israel any harm?
If it's not about the training, what is it about? Are you going to take your chances with nature and pray for a bumper crop of supermen each and every year? Personally, I'd go with factors that I can control and focus on implementing a training system that produces the best results regardless of the material that you start with.
I've said it many times before - plenty of men from other units can outrun, outjump and out-situp Commandos. On the other hand, put a Commando and an infantryman side-by-side, have them charlie-mike for 96 hours and then get them to solve a tactical problem, and then you'll see the difference. Sure, both will be tired, but betting odds are that the Commando will be less vulnerable to the "shack cannot think" syndrome. I don't care if you can run a four-minute mile - if you can't think at the end of that four minutes, you're still as useless as teats on a bull.
Guess what? The difference doesn't lie in what either man was like when he enlisted. Instead, one would have been pushed to the limit in training while the other would not - it's that simple. I used to be astounded by hearing men from other units (which I won't name) KPKB about doing two rehearsals before an exercise. We used to do 25 rehearsals, covering all the different permutations and combinations of casualties and remaining teams, before each exercise, and these guys are complaining about having to do it a second time?
You're right, Chan - it's simply the training that makes the difference. Hell, right from enlistment day the instructors used to give an evil grin and say, "You can be trained". If you think that the raw material is more important than the training, you really don't understand the job at all.
As for CDO not being SF, well, duh. We're light infantry with airborne capability and we always have been, just like the US Rangers and British Paras. I don't know where you get the idea that we're SF. -
In short...(correct me if I'm wrong in my humble opinion)
Commandos = Airborne Infantry
Guards = Air Assault Infantry (Cavalry)
AI = Armoured Infantry (Dragoons)
Infantry = General Infantry
In general...all are infantry except that they are used differently. -
For me personally, i feel that real elite soldiers r those who can think on their feets , have a above average AQ , can command the respect of their fellow soldiers, and of course fearless to point out errors that others have made, be it ur superior or ur platoon mates. that i think is wat SAF need
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A bit more to it than that, SpecOps. The key difference is the area of operations. Infantry theoretically works around our front lines, Commandos work behind the enemy's front lines and Guards work in no-man's land in between. The further forward you are, the less support you can expect, and the training is built around that amount of support. For example, with light infantry (including airborne infantry), they're trained to achieve their objectives with minimal support from armour and arty, while Infantry troops would be trained more to work in conjunction with such support.Originally posted by SpecOps87:In short...(correct me if I'm wrong in my humble opinion)
Commandos = Airborne Infantry
Guards = Air Assault Infantry (Cavalry)
AI = Armoured Infantry (Dragoons)
Infantry = General Infantry
In general...all are infantry except that they are used differently.